Method of making plastic desk tops



June 5, 1951 J. H. BRINKER 2,556,060

METHOD OF MAKING PLASTIC DESK TOPS Filed March 6, 1946 I N V EN TOR. JbH/v HEN r .B uWrs/ MQ M Patented June 5, 1951 METHOD OF MAKING PLASTIC DESK TOPS John Henry Brinker, Norwood, Ohio, assignor to The Globe-Wernicke 00., Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 6, 1946, Serial No. 652,343

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to improvements in top construction for desks and the like and more particularly for desks of a type known as flat top desks, such as are used in business offices.

In recentyears there has been a great demand for desks having tops covered with linoleum. Linoleum makes a good writing surface and is not so subject to marring as a natural wood top. In a metal desk it provides a somewhat resilient writing surface, which is much preferable to a metal surface.

In modern desk styling rounded edges and corners have come into vogue and, in the conventional linoleum covered flat top desk with rounded corners and edges, it has been the practice to cut the corners out of the covering material, mount the material on a subtop and then provide rounded metal corner pieces to cover the cut out portion of the covering material.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved construction, whereby it is unnecessary to cut the corners of the covering material and whereby metallic corner pieces are eliminated. It is another object of my invention to provide a desk top having rounded upper edges and corners covered with a covering material which is not marred by cutting. Another object of my invention is to provide a desk top as outlined above which will be relatively simple and inexpensive, but pleasing in appearance. These and other objects of my invention which I shall describe in more detail hereinafter, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts and by that series of method steps, of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is now made to the drawing forming a part hereof and in which Figure l is a plan view of a desk top according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same.

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of one corner of the desk top.

Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on the line 4, 4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a corner of a desk top.

Briefly in the practice of my invention I provide a sub-top which may be either of metal or wood. In the drawing I have shown a metal subtop, but whether it is metal or wood, it is provided with rounded top edges and corners as is well-known in the art.

As a cover material I prefer to use linoleum of a type known to the trade as desk top linoleum, consisting of resin and rosin mixed with ground cork and pigments and pressed on a burlap or muslin backing. The material may be of any suitable thickness, it being understood, of course, that the sharper the radius of the curvature of the edges and corners the thinner the material should be.

The covering material is cut to the required size and is shaped or molded in a die so that the corners and edges will have the required curvatures. The forming or molding is performed on the material while cold.

The covering material is then adhesively fastened to the subtop and held in intimate contact therewith by a suitable form until the adhesive has set.

In order to provide for a finished appearance I preferably provide a trim strip which is fastened to the bottom edge of the sub-top and has an upwardly extending flange which covers the low or edge of the covering material. This construction is best shown in Figure 4 where the numerals Hi and H indicate parts of the subtop, the layer of adhesive material is indicated at l2, the covering material at l3 and the trim strip at [4 with its upwardly extending flange at !5. In a metal subtop, the trim strip may be fastened by means of sheet metal screws as indicated at I 6,

Instead of the linoleum I may also use plastic sheets of suitable thickness, but in such case it is necessary to render the corners of the plastic sheet pliable by means of heat. The hot sheet material may then be formed or molded to suitable shape, adhesively applied to the subtop and held in intimate contact therewith until the adhesive has set and the plastic material has cooled.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a desk top construction and a method of making a desk top in which a linoleum or plastic sheet material covers a subtop which may be of either metal or wood which has rounded upper edges and rounded corners. It will be seen that the covering material is molded; therefore, it has no disfiguring cuts at the corners, and thereby the curved corner pieces heretofore used are eliminated.

It will be clear that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I therefore do not intend to limit myself except as pointed out in the claimwhich follows. Having now fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A method of making a plastic covered desk top having rounded upper edges and corners, which comprises providing a sub-top having rounded upper edges and corners, heating the corners of the plastic covering material and molding them while hot to fit the corners of said sub-top, to cause said plastic covering material entirely to cover and conform to the upper and lateral surfaces including said rounded corners of said subtop, adhesively mounting said molded plastic covering material to said subtop, and binding the lower edge thereof to said subtop, to cover and conceal the edge of said plastic material. 7

JOHN HENRY BRINKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Roenigk Apr. 2, 1895 Norris Jan. 14, 1936 Camfield Mar. 7, 1939 Jones Jan. 9, 1940 Abron Jan. 6, 1942 Weissert Aug. 18, 1942 Casto Feb.'l6, 1943 Sawyer May 18, 1943 Daly May 13, 1947 

